Courier / Messenger
Salary

Messengers in the United States take home approximately $13.75 per hour on average. This group's pay is mainly influenced by geography, followed by the specific employer and tenure. Job satisfaction for Messengers is high. Male Messengers are far more common among survey respondents than their female counterparts, who typically comprise less than one-third of the field. While some workers in this profession — close to two-fifths — do not have any health coverage, a majority do receive medical benefits and a little more than half have dental insurance. The information for this snapshot was generated by responses to the PayScale salary survey.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

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Job Description for Courier / Messenger

There are many occasions in which designs, contracts, and official/notarized documents must be physically transported from one nearby location to another. Couriers are employed either by companies that perform specialized information or document deliveries during the course of a regular business day; they may also be employed by a company that specializes in messenger services for other organizations.

Messengers and couriers must be organized, as they are usually tasked with delivering important items or documents from one business to another; in the case of multiple delivery stops, couriers must be certain they are delivering the proper items to each recipient. Upon delivery, most courier systems require the signature of someone receiving the items; these signatures must also be organized so that they correspond with the proper items delivered.

For businesses who use couriers or messengers, time is usually of the essence. For that reason, it is important that a courier has a good working knowledge of local roads, highways, and traffic patterns; many courier companies base compensation on efficiency and the number of deliveries performed.

A courier must generally have a driver’s license with a clean record and a vehicle in good working order. In urban areas where traffic is dense and parking is at a premium, some messenger services use bicycle couriers. In this case, rather than a driver’s license, a courier must be in fairly good athletic shape and have a well-maintained bicycle at his or her disposal.

Messenger and courier work may be part time, as the demand for this service can fluctuate. This position generally requires availability during regular business hours during the week.

Courier / Messenger Tasks

Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.

Pick up and carry messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within a company or to other businesses, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle or car.

Common Career Paths for Courier / Messenger

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Messengers often transition into Operations Manager positions, for which compensation tends to be much higher. On average, Operations Managers earn $59K per year. Messengers most often move into positions as Light or Delivery Services Truck Drivers or Trucking and Transportation Fleet Dispatchers; those groups report median salaries that are $2K higher and $7K higher, respectively.

Courier / Messenger Job Listings

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Popular Employer Salaries for Courier / Messenger

Federal Express Corporation (FedEx), Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp of America, FedEx Ground, and Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) are leaders in the field that employ a large number of Messengers. Employees of Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) can expect to make the most, with the company offering a median salary of $39K; however, pay is widely dispersed from bottom to top, ranging from $32K to $57K.

Salaries are easily beat at Quest Diagnostics, where median pay comes to just $24K, the lowest in the field. What's more, with base pay starting at $20K and ending at $31K, range in salary is rather small.

Popular Skills for Courier / Messenger

This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Survey results show that Messengers typically report just a few professional skills. Most notably, skills in Driver, Driver/Core Development, Customer Service, and Transport are correlated to pay that is above average. Skills that seem to negatively impact pay include Driving and Transport. Those educated in Customer Service tend to be well versed in Driving.

Pay by Experience Level for Courier / Messenger

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

More years of relevant experience do not necessarily translate to higher paychecks. In this position, someone who has worked for fewer than five years can expect a median salary of $29K. The median for people with five to 10 years of experience is only a little bit higher at $31K. For Messengers, 10 to 20 years of experience on the job amounts to an average salary of $35K. In the end, the overall pattern seems to be that more experience generally corresponds to higher pay; a Messenger with more than 20 years of experience can earn $40K on average.